EP Review: Green Eyed Child

[EP: Silence (Speak Your Mind)]
[Label: Unsigned]

If you read the mainstream influences that Green Eyed Child list on their MySpace (Foo Fighters, Stereophonics, Paul Weller, Manic Street Preachers) before listening to them you’d think that the four boys from Billericay were just a quartet of noisome oiks simply penning rock-by-numbers tunes. The truth, however, is something […]

Single Review Shorts: 22-29 September

[Artist: The Lazarus Plot]
[Single: Do You Want To Be Someone]
[Label: Illuminated Music]

No offence meant to this band whatsoever for what I am about to say. This single started off relatively well with some programmed, slightly distorted sounding drums, but then the rest of the song made just made me cringe and wince and pull pain […]

EP Review: Spectrum 7

[EP: Fade To Black And Back Again]
[Label: Unsigned]

Electro-rockers Spectrum 7 write songs in their bedroom much like many other bands starting out. The difference here though is that Sean Shreeve and Jon Hardless are insanely good at it. They started out layering lyrics and guitars over electronic beats created on a knackered old Playstation. A […]

EP Review: Birdpen

[Album: Breaking Precedent]
[Label: Les Oreilles Bleues]

What’s immediately clear from the moment you press “play” is Birdpen’s obsessive fascination concerning birds, and other examples of Mother Nature’s offspring. Their press release reads as if David Attenborough has begun his own science fiction writing career - penning nonsense phrases at a rate faster than an over-excitable teenage […]

Single Review Shorts: 15 September

[Artist: A Silent Film]
[Single: Thirteen Times The Strength]
[Label: Xtra Mile Recordings]

Oxford 4-piece A Silent Film have been going from strength to strength in recent months, and on the back of this new single, ‘Thirteen Times The Strength’, I can see why. The four minutes of intelligent and melodious alternative indie-rock are both spacious and convincing. […]

Single Review Shorts: 1-8 September

[Artist: Conor Oberst]
[Single: Souled Out]
[Label: Wichita]

‘Souled Out!’ is swimming with country-fied folk guitars - electric licks and plastic acoustic strumming. There’s not necessarily a recognisable pattern to it all and things begin to disintegrate further with a finishing torrent of drum destruction and strange out-of-place whipping delay effects. A redundant release purely to draw attention […]

EP Review: Animosity / Drumcorps

[EP: Altered Beast]
[Label: Man Alive Records]

The other day I finally got my hands on Aaron Spectre’s latest Drumcorps incarnation: a 3-track EP consisting of a few remixed tracks from Animosity’s last album ‘Animal’. Out on Man Alive, ‘Altered Beast’ is a limited vinyl release (1,000 copies) and comes in various OTT combinations—keeping it true to […]

EP Review: Middle Class Rut

[EP: M.C Rut]
[Label: ECG Records]

‘M.C Rut’ is the inspiringly titled second release from Sacramento, California’s Middle Class Rut, which comprises the duo Zack Lopez (Vocals/Guitar) and Sean Stockham (Vocals/Drums). Quite a work it is too.
On the first listen I was immediately impressed with the sheer scale of MCR’s sound. The riffs are huge, […]

EP Review: Kieronononon

[EP: Brutal Technopunk]
[Label: Roxxor]

Watch out, Kieronononon are one of those wacky bands, with a crazy never-ending name, a sarcastically titled EP and zany wigs on in their press photos. These guys are out there, man. As for the music, it follows a similar mentally off-kilter pattern with this five track EP going from one sound […]

Single Review Shorts: August 18-25

[Artist: October]
[Single: Houston / Listen, Move, Dance]
[Label: Caravan #CVAN005]
Julian Smith aka DJ October’s latest offering on the Caravan imprint takes up from where his last 12” ended. October is championing the broken beat techno/minimal sound at the moment and Houston / Listen, Move, Dance is no exception. ‘Houston’ is a slow-building track full of stuttering […]